American Go E-Journal » Go Spotting

“There is a nice allusion to go in Han Kang’s novel, The Vegetarian, winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize,” writes Tony Koslow. On page 164 (2016 US paperback edition translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith):

There’s been a time when she could spend hours like this, weighing up all the variables that might have contributed to determining Yeong-hye’s fate. Of course it was entirely in vain, this act of mentally picking up and counting the paduk stones that have been laid out on the board of her sister’s life.

The 2015 computer game “Shadowrun: Hong Kong” features go, reports Eric Rasmussen. In one scene, a handful of non-player characters sit around a go game in progress. The player can speak with them, but, unfortunately, cannot join in their fun. “Shadowrun: Hong Kong” is one of the latest games exploring the cyberpunk world of Shadowrun, a fantasy role playing game that started in the 1980s with a tabletop RPG ruleset. The series depicts a near-future version of Earth in which corrupt corporations have led a world full of sprawling metropolises into a gritty, dangerous, hi-tech age. However, unlike many cyberpunk adventures, this world also includes magic and fantasy creatures like Elves and Orcs, alongside the high tech weaponry and hacking-oriented futuristic themes. The turn-based role playing game is available on Windows, Macintosh, and Linux operating systems.
- Noah Doss

In a related film, Daniel Acheson, who sent in this item, also reports that “A relic from the time of World War II, Frank Capra’s 1945 propaganda film ‘Know Your Enemy — Japan’ mentions go.” Acheson writes that the film speaks of “attempts to eradicate Western influence in Showa-era Japan” and asserts that “Western card games were purged in favor of [go]” which they refer to as “a game of super chess.” The narrator then notes, “somewhat threateningly, that it is ‘a game of military strategy.’”

Go is featured in the League of Legends Azir champion skin preview, reports Daniel Chou. “In a pre-release video teaser, we see Azir sitting in front of a Goban as he recalls back to the Fountain. League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) where two teams battle each other to capture important objectives on the map in order to reach and destroy the enemy team Nexus. Each player selects a champion to play for the duration of a game. Occasionally the player would recall his champion back to the fountain to regenerate in-game champion stats and to spend earned gold on upgraded items.”

“The champion Azir appropriately pays homage to go; according to League of Legends lore, Azir was the Emperor reawakened after millennia lying dormant beneath the desert that overtook the once-powerful Shurima Empire.” Click here for more info on Azir.

“In the ‘Deadly Games’ episode of the TV series ‘Diagnosis Murder’ (Season 5), the main character, Dr. Mark Sloan, played by Dick Van Dyke learns and plays go,” writes Erwin Gerstorfer. “Here’s the summary of the episode on the Internet Movie Database, which even includes links to the AGA and BGA: ‘In this episode Mark Sloan (Dick van Dyke) has to play Wei-ch’i (Weiqi), more commonly known as Go. He suspects bodyguard Frank Waldeck (Michael Beck) of not being all he seems and plays Go against him to try and suss his strategy. You can find out more about Go at usgo.org or britgo.org.’”

“Just finished the novel Saturn Run by John Sandford and Ctein,” writes Michael Goerss. “In this novel set in the 2060’s, two members of a spaceship crew use a 3D printer to make a go board and stones. They reference the game briefly on pages 202, 216 and 218 in my hardcover copy, and the beginner manages to get his handicap down to seven stones. He also reads ‘a famous Go instruction book by Nicholai Hel,’ who was of course the main character of Shibumi by Trevanian. Sort of go spotting squared, with one literary go player referencing another. “

Kubo and the Two Strings: “At the beginning of the new stop-motion animation movie “Kubo and the Two Strings,” two villagers are seen playing go briefly,” writes Marc Hedlund. “My go-playing daughter was very excited about this (as was I)!”

NYPD Red 2 Redux: “A dozen Chinese men from twenty-something to eighty-something were grouped in a semicircle, chain-smoking and watching two men hunched over a makeshift table. They were playing Go, the two-thousand-year-old Chinese board game.” From “NYPD Red 2” by James Patterson & Marshall Karp, sent in by EJ reader Gene Halverson. See also Go Spotting: Patterson’s NYPD Red 2(7/24/2015).